Don't judge a book by its cover
by neeeeealll
Summary: Skye decides to make a sacrifice to save the village she lives in. But doesn't get exactly what she expected. What happens next? How long will she stay alive for? AU. Whole team fic including Mythical creatures.
1. Chapter 1

She looked around in horror, wondering how she ever thought this was going to be a good idea. Sure sacrificing yourself sound like a good idea when you watched others suffering but when you were actually doing it you wanted to run away. This was nothing like she expected.

Oh she had prepared herself for the dingy dark place, the dripping water just added to the décor. The spiked rocks that loomed over her head just encouraged the feeling of smallness and that she should turn back. Her mind was beginning to play tricks on her, convincing her she saw movement at the edge of the torchlight. She kept her eyes forward, not wanting to glance at the crunching underfoot in case it sent her screaming and running for the hills. Not that she would be able too much anyway; her torch had been kept small deliberately. Bringing an open flame here was just asking for trouble.

Rumbling just ahead suggested she had nearly reached her destination. Small flashes of light illuminated the path, indicating what was just ahead. Part of her wanted to surge forward, to escape this place and emerge into the light. The other, saner part, wanted to delay here in the passage as long as possible. Here she was safe. She could remain here and enjoy life for a little longer.

But no. She knew what she was doing when she had volunteered. It was the only logical choice. The only fair choice. She was an orphan she had no one. No one would miss her. If she had let someone else go in her place then she was causing another family grief. It wouldn't be her fault she wasn't doing the killing. But she would have felt the guilt anyway, especially when she knew she could have done something about it.

Enough! She knew why she was here. Stalling her death wouldn't prevent it; just prolong the agony of indecision. Taking a deep breath she strode into the light and new chamber. It was different to what she expected, more of the passage. Naturally there was lots of fire, held in small bowls lighting up the chamber. The walls were a shimmery material, bouncing light around the chamber. A small pool glistened not far away from where she stood, the water so clear she could see straight to the bottom. Golden sand ringed the edge of the pool, the path she was stood on leading down to a beach, a beach where he lay.

Oh God. He was nothing like she expected. Big yes, but there was a kind of beauty in him that was unexpected. When all you heard was bad things and how he killed tens of people your imagination tends to run away with you. Everything imagined was dark and small. Who else could be that cruel? To take away friends and family you had to be something evil.

He had clearly spotted her as he moved slowly but gracefully to his feet and padded over to her. His slow pace to her gave her time to gather her courage. She had known this was coming for a while but she still wasn't sure what to say. Her mouth was dry, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. When he was eventually just before her she spoke, voice trembling;

"_Hi… Err… Hello… I'm your next sacrifice."_

He eyed her with what appeared like deliberation as she trembled before him. Then suddenly he moved his head towards her and she knew it was all over.

* * *

She'd lived in the village as long as she could remember, being brought up by the nuns of a local order. Once she was old enough to understand they had explained she had been left to them as a baby, appearing in their church one night, wrapped in a blanket. They had searched for her parents but were unable to trace them. As no one in the village had wanted to take on another child they had raised her. It hadn't been too bad, some of them were stricter than others, it was like living with thirty mums. They had fed and clothed her, gave her an education when other girls had to just live at home and prepare to be married.

The trouble had begun when she was eighteen. It had taken a while for her to hear about it as the order was situated just outside of the village; news took a while to filter through. She had only found out about it as families had come to the nuns begging for prayers to relieve them from this monster.

Over the next few months it had become apparent that prayers weren't being answered, with more and more people heading up to the monster and to their death. It had worried her as people were dying but had almost seemed unrealistic, as she hardly knew any of these people. Occasionally people did escape and return but they were forced to head back to the monster by the villagers, fearful if he was not fed he would demand greater numbers. Once they were sent back they never returned again.

This had continued for six years with no let up. She was still living with the nuns even though she had decided not to take up orders. It wasn't really her. It was then she had made her decision. She couldn't keep living with the nuns; they couldn't keep her on if she wasn't going to become one of them. When the village had announced it was time for another sacrifice she had volunteered herself. Better to do something helpful than become a burden on the village.

By now the village knew what the monster plaguing them was. This had increased the reluctance of villagers to be sent to him, no one wanted to die a fiery death. So when she had volunteered they weren't entirely sure what to do. She noticed it didn't take them long to take her up on her offer once the shock had been overcome. She'd never been popular in the village, to strange, an unknown. The rumours about her birth had never gone away. As far as the village were concerned why would anybody give up a healthy baby girl unless there was something wrong with her? She'd never been able to convince them otherwise. Which was why she set of up towards the monster, knowing she had at least saved somebody else's life.

* * *

She'd closed her eyes as soon as she'd seen his head coming towards her. She wasn't sure how she was going to be killed. She knew the dragon stood before her could kill her in a number of ways, fire being the one she most feared. She was unprepared for the huff of breath that hit her. Slowly opening one eye she found he was still stood before her. If you could read emotions from a dragon's face she would say he was annoyed. Surely he wanted the sacrifice?

With a jerk of his head he indicated the path behind him. It forked from the path down to the lake and headed into another passage. After another nod towards the path she stumbled down it. Moving slowly she stumbled down it, not sure he really wanted her to go. Her brain was trying to keep up with what was occurring. She hadn't expected to live this long, she almost expected to suddenly have this taken away from her. But clearly she was doing the right thing as the dragon moved back towards his beach.

It gave her chance to have a better look at him. Initially she had thought he was completely black but she could see she was wrong. Small flecks of gold shimmered along his back, making his scales gleam. He was large, larger than she had ever expected, yet seemed to move with ease for his size. He wasn't exactly what she had imagined. She wasn't going to stick around to ogle him some more just in case he changed her mind.

Entering the passage she saw it was better lit made of the same material of the chamber. Sitting against the sandy floor she took a few minutes to get her shaking under control. Once she was sure her legs would support her she continued down the passageway. Now the fear was beginning to subside she was curious to where she was heading. Nobody knew what was in this area, people being too scared of the dragon. It was getting late and she needed to find somewhere to settle down for the night and something to eat. She hoped that it wasn't his plan to starve her to death!

She didn't think anything else could surprise her after what she had experienced today but she was wrong. A large house sat in what appeared to be a small valley. It was surrounded by cliff, which explained why nobody knew it was here. Was this where the dragon wanted her to come? Did anybody dare live here so close to the dragon?

Moving cautiously she headed for the front door. Upon finding it open she entered the house. The foyer was made of the same material as the chamber with the dragon and contained a sweeping staircase.

"_Hello? Anybody here?" _She called, shivering slightly.

It was creepy hearing her voice echo back at her. When there was no reply she headed towards the seat opposite her. It was well cushioned and more comfortable than anything she had ever sat on. The nuns really weren't into comfort. She was just going to sit here and rest then see if there was anything to eat in the house. It appeared to be empty but a look around would let her know for certain.

She had just begun to relax when her security was shattered.

"_Hello?"_

* * *

So I've had this idea in my head for a while but never had time to write it. Other characters will turn up in the next few chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

Skye turned to find a young man looking at her. He was extremely tall, with short dark brown hair and cheekbones to die for. It looked like if you ran your finger along them they would cut you. He was dressed simply in black clothes but wore them with an air of confidence that made them look like the finest of garments. As she had stared he had moved closer, close enough she could see the colour of his eyes, chocolate brown.

"_Hello." _He said again, coming to a stop just in front of her. She noticed he moved slowly as if she was a startled animal.

"_Hi… I'm sorry is this your house? I just came here, as I didn't know where else to go. The dragon sent me down here. Well I think he did. He appeared to. I'm sorry. I'm not sure where else to go." _She gabbled, stopping only when she saw him laughing.

"_Slow down. It's ok. I need to be able to understand you. Are you another one from the village?"_

"_Another one? You mean you've seen others?"_

"_I take it that is a yes. Why do they keep sending you?" _She saw a shadow cross his face.

"_They didn't send me, I sent myself." _He jerked his eyes up to her as he began to study her. She got the feeling that he wasn't sure what to make of her.

"_Well that's a new one. Come on. Let's get you some food and introduce you to some of the others."_

"_You didn't answer my question." _It didn't escape her notice that she was following him like a puppy or that he expected her to follow.

"_I didn't get your name. I'm Grant Ward by the way. And to answer your question yes I have met the others that the stupid villagers keep sending to the dragon for some reason."_

"_I'm Skye. They think it will stop them being killed by the dragon."_

"_Of all the stupid things." _He muttered which she didn't think she was supposed to hear.

"_Well they never came back."_

"_Yes well each time we sent them back they got sent back to the dragon without anybody listening to them so we had to do something."_

"_So they're not dead?"_

"_Of course not! Jesus we're not monsters. As they kept being sent back to us we had to do something about it. Leaving them here wasn't an option so we created a new village for them so they could live in peace. We can take you there tomorrow."_

"_Everyone thinks the dragon is a monster. Hang on you keep saying we. Are you linked with the dragon?"_

"_You could say that there is a relationship with him and everyone in this house." _He said wryly. "_Anyway here is the kitchen. May and Phil are in there, they'll give you something to eat. I'll go and prepare a room for you."_ He propelled her into the kitchen before heading up another pair of stairs.

Standing in front of a fire were two people, the lady was short with dark black hair, the man slightly taller with dark hair and glasses.

"_Hi. I'm Skye." _She squeaked.

"_Hi. I'm Mel. This is Phil. I guess you are the new sacrifice." _She could hear the sarcasm in the woman's voice.

"_I volunteered."_

"_That's new."_

"_Leave her alone Mel. She's probably completely confused. It's not her fault. Come and have some food."_

"_Thank you."_

She sat at the table as Phil placed a simple soup and bread in front of her. It was one of the best meals she had ever eaten.

"_Did they never feed you?" _Phil asked in concern.

"_The nuns I lived with believed in less is more."_

"_Better?" _Questioned Grant as he wandered back into the room. She jumped slightly but tried not to show it. He could move extremely quietly for a man of his size.

"_Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry to bother you."_

"_Don't worry about it. Your room is ready if you want it."_

"_Please."_

"_Come. I'll show you where it is."_

After thanking the couple for the food she followed him upstairs. The corridor was made of the same material as downstairs with many doors leading off the corridor.

"_You don't seem as tired."_

"_We tend to be more nocturnal than you due to circumstance."_ He replied with a slight smile as he opened a door.

It opened to reveal a huge room, which included a bath and one of the biggest beds she had ever seen. It looked far more comfortable than anything she had slept on before.

"_Wow!"_

"_I take that this will be ok then? I'll leave you it. Just go where you want in the morning and help yourself to food. Somebody will be up and around."_

"_Not you?"_

"_I'll probably be around later on."_

"_Oh right. We'll thank you."_

"_My pleasure Skye. Night."_

"_Night."_

* * *

Skye woke to the feeling that someone was watching her. Looking around groggily she saw a pair of eyes looking at her from the door. Seeing that she had been noticed the woman strode into the room and sat beside the bed.

"_Hi. I'm Jemma Simmons. I heard you're Skye. Ward told me you were here. I wasn't expecting you to still be asleep. I was wondering if you wanted to come and see the village with me. Fitz has already gone. He's my partner. Ward said you were curious about it."_

It took Skye a few minutes to understand what the women had just said. Her accent was different to others from this area and she spoke really fast.

"_Sure I'd like that. Is Grant there as well?"_

"_No… He's busy at the moment. You call him Grant?"_

"_You don't?"_

"_No… I've never really thought about it. He's always been Ward to me."_

"_How did you come to being here? If you don't mind me asking."_

"_You noticed my accent did you? Fitz is the same. It's one of the only safe places for us to live. We were hunted for being witches at home."_

Noticing Skye's stare of amazement she continued.

"_We're not obviously. It's just we believe in advancement, for me it's medicine, for Fitz its engineering. People just don't like things that are different."_

"_You can say that again."_

"_You speak from experience then?"_

"_Don't know who my parents are, so naturally I'm a witch."_

"_You do understand! Anyway I'll let you get dressed. Meet me downstairs and we'll go to the village."_

Skye watched as she bounced out of the room, wondering if a whirlwind had just hit her. It was weird but even though she barely knew these people she felt more comfortable than she had even done before. It was almost like this place could become home.

* * *

They had walked to the village, which had taken them over an hour. During that time Simmons had informed her about some of the other occupants of the house. Somebody had persecuted them all before they headed here and found a place at the house. She didn't explain how they were connected to the dragon though. Apart from Fitz who she hadn't met yet there was also somebody who was called Tripp, but he wouldn't back for a while.

A woman ran the new village called Victoria Hand. She'd been chosen, as her old village didn't like the fact she wouldn't marry. The reason for this was perfectly clear when she introduced her wife, who she had met in this new place. Everyone was happy here, free from the constricting views of the conservative villagers. In return for them being saved they provided the house with all the food they could need, as they valley the house was situated in not being able to support crops.

It was a delight to see so many happy people. There were even families, with the youngest member just being born a few days ago. Skye still missed meeting Fitz as he had already headed back to the house, though how she had missed him she wasn't sure. There was only one way in and out of the village and nobody had gone that way.

"_It's getting late. He'd better hurry up!"_

"_Who'd better hurry up?"_

Simmons was saved from answering when the dragon landed just in front of them. Instead of running in fear, as she had expected, the villagers crowded around the dragon, hugging and kissing him. They clearly adored him. He seemed slightly uncomfortable with all of the affection but happily leant down and sniffed the new baby.

"_Come on Skye. We don't have long left."_

"_What do you mean? Oh no. No. I'm not riding him."_

"_It's completely safe. He won't let anything happen to you. Now come on. We're running out of time."_

She pulled her over to the dragon, who lowered himself down so they could climb up. It was surprisingly easy to do, with his wings providing a good foothold.

"_How can we be running out of time?"_

"_He can't fly at night. Now hold on tight."_

How can he not fly at night? Skye grabbed a hold of a spike just in front of her as the dragon stood again. He seemed to understand Simmons' urgency as he took off immediately, the draft from his wings blowing her hair around her head. It was a lot smoother than she expected and for all her initial fears she soon found herself enjoying the flight. Man has always wanted to fly and now she knew exactly why.

They had only been flying for ten minutes when she sensed they were loosing height. Looking at Simmons she saw she looked worried.

"_Damn. We're closer to sunset than I thought. We're going to land."_

The dragon quickly set them down within a small wooded area. They both slipped off and Skye watched as Simmons removed a set of mans clothing from her basket with the food in it and place them on the ground. When she looked at her in question, Simmons simply replied:

"_Come on. We'll have to camp here. The tree will give cover."_

"_What about him?"_ She asked, pointing to the dragon that was looking around sheepishly.

"_He'll be fine. Just leave him be."_

She walked off leaving Skye to follow her. What was going on? Why was she so desperate for her to leave? And why was the dragon so upset?

Ignoring Simmons she decided to watch the dragon, hidden behind a tree. He almost seemed to be shrinking in on himself, getting smaller and smaller. Wait! He was getting smaller! Before her eyes she watched as the huge dragon turned into a man. A very naked man. Well that explained the clothing!

* * *

So I know Ward is slightly OC in this but it will be explained in the next chapter. Plus we'll get to see a bit more of the rest of the team.


	3. Chapter 3

Skye woke with a jump. Glancing around she recognised the trees from last night. She'd remember lying down though. God her head was foggy. She remembered landing in the forest. Simmons had led her away from the dragon then… then… he'd turned into a man! A very naked man. She remembered watching him reaching for his clothes, straining to see his face then everything was blank. Why couldn't she remember anything?!

"Morning. Are you ok Skye? You seem slightly pale." Simmons was stood nearby looking at her with some concern.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just can't remember much from last night."

"I'm not really surprised. You were a bit of a zombie last night. I suppose it has been a trying time for you."

"I was a zombie? I swear I was watching the dragon and he turned into a man."

"A man… Skye you must have been dreaming. You followed me into the clearing and then fell asleep. I had a hard job getting you to eat anything before you slept." Her voice went an octave higher and she refused to look at Skye gathering up her basket.

"Anyway the dragon is most definitely still a dragon. He can take us back now."

Skye nodded in response, sure that she was keeping something from her.

It didn't take them long to fly back to the house. Once he'd seen them safely off his back the dragon wandered back off towards his cave. It didn't make sense to Skye. He clearly had a good relationship with the people in the house yet he preferred solitude unless they needed him. Surely he must want company?

Following Simmons into the kitchen she found Mel and Phil standing talking to two other men. One was tall with a shaven head, the other slighter with brown hair. One of these was clearly Fitz though which she wasn't sure. She was granted her answer when Simmons flew towards the taller guy, flinging her arms around him and crying:

"Tripp!"

"Told you she'd be excited to see you." Grinned the other guy.

Spotting Skye hovering beside the door, Phil introduced her.

"Skye the person grinning like an idiot is Leo Fitz. The other guy who Jemma is currently clinging to is Antoine Triplett who everyone calls Tripp. Guys this is Skye, the new sacrifice."

She couldn't help but blush slightly at that description but the others put her at ease. She was quickly included in the conversation and learnt that Tripp had been travelling for a while searching for someone he and Grant knew. He'd apparently escaped from a local jail so Tripp had gone to try and recapture him. Only him and Grant knew most of his hiding places but they were all empty so Tripp had returned to confer with Grant about what to do next.

Which made the fact he wasn't around even stranger. She'd expected him to be here when they got back but she'd yet to see any sign of him. The others didn't seem to think it was strange and just replied he was around somewhere whenever she asked.

It wasn't until later that night that she actually found him. She was heading upstairs to her room when she bumped into him, literally.

"Oh I'm sorry. Oh hey Grant."

"Hey Skye. Don't worry about it. Are you ok? Simmons mentioned you weren't feeling well this morning."

"Oh I'm fine. My mind was just a bit foggy." She was keeping her missing time to herself. Something was going on with that and she was going to get to the bottom of it!

"I'm glad to hear. I also see you meet Tripp."

"Yeah he's nice. I missed you there though. Everyone celebrated him coming back. Mel even made a cake."

"Yeah well unfortunately I was busy. I'll catch him later." If she hadn't been looking for it she would have missed the small hesitation in his reply. There was clearly something else going on.

"Are you ok though? Tripp mentioned your mentor had broken out of jail. Garrett was it?"

"Yeah. It's difficult as he did a lot of terrible things but we'll find him again. He's one of the reasons Tripp and I live here."

"Really?"

Smiling slightly at her interested he beckoned her down the corridor and into a room that she assumed was his.

"Make yourself comfy. It isn't really a conversation to have in the middle of the corridor."

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to you know?" She replied as she sat down on a chair. The room was simply decorated, almost stark. It didn't look like he spent much time in here.

"It's fine. Beside sometimes it's good to talk about these things. Anyway neither Tripp nor I had the best of childhoods so Garrett picked us up. We were going to train to be knights under him. Tripp and I became like brothers, we spent that much time together. Unfortunately what we hadn't realised was that he was committing atrocities. We found out when a sorcerer called Fury informed us of what had been going on. We helped him lock Garrett up and then headed out here. We wanted somewhere out of the way to think. In the end we found somewhere we could actually do some good."

"You feel like you need to pay penance?"

"I did some bad things Skye. If I can help people then maybe I can remove some red from my ledger. I did bad things for Garrett. I dragged Tripp down with me so it's the least I can do."

"Does he feel the same way?"

"No. He thinks that he has some blame as he didn't notice but it wasn't him that did these things."

"Do you take everything on yourself?"

That surprised him. Seriously the more she learnt about him the more she wanted to hit him. He seemed to think everything was his fault.

"I did things I shouldn't have done, whether I knew it or not. Therefore I must pay for it."

"I wonder if others would see it like that? Besides isolation isn't the best thing for anybody."

"The isolation is necessary though. Anyway I'd bet you're tired so I'll let you get to bed." On that enigmatic note he helped her to her feet and then lead her back to her room.

* * *

Over the next few days Skye became certain Grant was avoiding her. Anytime she caught a glance of him he hurried away. Maybe he thought she'd be shocked or angry with him for what he had told her. She wasn't but she still couldn't understand why he needed the isolation. She was certain there was something else going on here.

However, she'd been kept busy helping out everyone else in the house. She'd helped Fitz with his newest invention by passing him tools when he needed it. She'd collected food for Phil and helped Simmons tend to villagers ailments. She'd even tried to help Mel with cooking but after nearly burning down the kitchen she'd been forbidden from entering it ever again unless it was too eat. Everyone had assured her she was welcome to stay at the house with them and didn't need to do anything but she wanted to earn her keep.

After the fourth day she'd had enough. It was very clear that Grant was ignoring her. Wanting to know what his problem was she followed him. It was early morning just before sunrise. She wouldn't normally be up at this time but she'd had to sit up and wait to even catch a glimpse of him. Finally he'd emerged from his room and headed towards the dragon's cave. Which was weird in its self, she'd noticed most people avoided the cave as much as possible.

Creeping into the cave she was surprised to see there was no dragon in sight. A pile of clothes lay beside the path and she could see Grant was swimming in the lake.

"Skye what are you doing here?" He cried angrily noticing her standing on the path.

"I wanted to talk to you. You've been avoiding me."

"You can't be here. You need to leave."

"Why? It's not like the dragon is dangerous. So what if he comes back?"

"Skye." He uttered her name like a plea.

She wasn't leaving. She'd waited up this long he wasn't going to escape now.

A sudden groan from him had her starting forward.

"No! Stay there."

She couldn't just stand there. He looked like he was in agony, curled in on himself. Then as she watched there was a flash of light like she remembered from the dragon changing. It became so bright Skye was forced to close her eyes. Eventually once it had died down Skye slowly opened her eyes. Stood where Grant had been was the dragon, his head hanging like he was ashamed. When hand rising to her mouth she sat down on the floor hard.

"You're the dragon?"

Suddenly Tripp was there in front of her gripping her arms. Kneeling in front of her he checked her pulse before ensuring he had her attention.

"Let me explain."


End file.
